


Lazarus (and what comes before it)

by SunflowerAndTheSea



Series: In another universe [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Background Relationships, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, I'm Sorry, M/M, Regret, Sad Ending, batfamily will be the death of me, family falling apart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 17:56:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17349881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerAndTheSea/pseuds/SunflowerAndTheSea
Summary: In this universe, it wasn't Jason who died, but Timothy Drake-Wayne.





	Lazarus (and what comes before it)

In another universe, this is how it goes - it wasn't Jason who died,

_(strong, kind Jason with bloodied knuckles and bright grin around a split lip)_

but Tim.

 _(little Timmy, with his sharp elbows and small figure, and a heart too young, too young to stop beating)_.

It was still Joker who did it, with mad laughter and a crowbar, merciless even as the sound of breaking bones and tearing flash echoed around him. Even Harley had to look away, because this child was too small,

too fragile,

~~_too little._ ~~

_(she didn't do anything to stop it, though, and later that night, in Pamela's arms, she wept for another child she had failed)._

Tim died, and his family grieved. That part was the same in both universes, but at the same time, it wasn't.

Dick wept, but there was no wide eyed kid to help him cope with the death of his baby brother, his little bird. There was only the night, the suit, and the crime he threw himself at, without restrain or care.

_(the laugh lines around his lips slowly faded away, and it was another thing that had died with Tim)_

Jason snapped, and no one had the time to stop it. Babybird was his family-

_(his friend, his love, his home)_

\- and now he was gone, and any part of Jason that was soft, that loved poetry and lazy mornings, slow kisses and cheesy romantic gestures, had grown hard underneath the weight of grief.

_(he found Joker in the end, and killed him. It was bloodier and more animalistic than anything he had ever done. And it didn't bring Tim back)_

Damian still came to their family, but he found it broken. Dark. Dying. And he didn't know how to fix it.

_(because he was still a child who needed saving himself, not a child who could take the weight of a ghost lingering in the hallways of their home)_

So with this new Robin-

_(no one dared look him in the eyes when they called him that, because neither could control their emotions - Dick sorrow, Jason rage, and Bruce regret)_

\- came a new Batman. More brutal, ruthless. Even darker than before. He worked, and when he didn't work, he sat in silence. Alone.

_(the silver lining was that less criminals dared cross this Batman. Sometimes, he likes to think that Tim would be proud of it.)_

And Bruce?

That man shattered under the weight of his choices.

_(it was almost impossible how much regret he carried in his heart)_

In this universe, it wasn't Jason who died, but Timothy Drake-Wayne.

And when Talia let him sink into the poisonous waters of Lazarus pit, he woke up with madness in his mind, and rage in his blood.

That part is the same in both universes.

But then again, it isn't.

**Author's Note:**

> fiiiinally, a fic I feel confident enough to post here :D but I feel like I broke my own heart writing it T.T  
> I hope you guys like it! ^_^


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